I did my first YouTube live stream at the weekend just passed, on Easter Monday at 12 noon. I have previously written about doing my first live stream but that one did not actually feature me, and I was not on camera at all.
It was just a test or dry run to see how easy it would be. It was just the birds singing in the hedgerow at the end of my house.
On Easter Sunday morning, out of curiosity, I just went down to the side of my house at 6 am or thereabouts, the nearest part of my house to a mature hedgerow, and turned on the live stream app on my Galaxy S9.
I then went back inside and did some work on my computer, all the time keeping an eye on my live stream broadcast on my YouTube channel and listening to the birds singing on the stream. It was a surreal experience, but also an eye opener as to how easy it was to broadcast live to the world.
The next day I had my own “Ask Me Anything” live stream at 12 noon on Easter Monday and it went well. I was nervous at first for a number of reasons: what questions would I be asked, would I be overwhelmed with comments, would anyone show up, would I have problems with spammers, and so forth.
But I just went ahead anyway, and it was well received with an active and supportive community asking a range of questions ranging from property to employment to family law to personal injuries. Not only that there was actually three questions and six viewers waiting for me just before I went live at 12 noon.
I struggle to get my head around how much power technology has to offer a small business owner like me. Being able to broadcast live to the world at the click of a few buttons on my smartphone is truly mind blowing, especially for a guy who was starting and running businesses long before the invention of the internet or smart phones or YouTube or live streams.
I plan on doing further live streams because I believe they have astounding potential to further build my brand, generate leads and clients, and build my profile and business.
My plan is to do them on a regular basis and to focus on one topic or theme for each live stream. For example, employment law, small business, property, etc.